Our . . . → Read More: My Citroen DS5 5 Star Experience: Day 1]]> If you saw this post, you will know that a few weeks ago I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of 5 winners to be taken with a partner to St Tropez in the South of France for a 5 Star weekend to test-drive the new Citroen DS5.  This is my story:

Our day began at 5.30am as we dragged ourselves out of bed to see a hefty covering of snow outside our windows and we wondered whether Nanny and Grandad would be able to make it to our house to look after the children for us, but at 6.30am they rolled up ready to start their own adventurous day ahead with two troublesome tikes.

Despite the snow the journey to Heathrow was relatively easy and we arrived at our car park in plenty of time to get to our meeting place at Terminal 5 at 10am.  On arrival we were greeted by our lovely host who quickly introduced us to the rest of the winners and their partners.  Our experience was about to begin . . .

We were each given an envelope containing 100euros spending money for France and £10 to buy ourselves breakfast before our flight.  We were due to take-off at 12.15pm but already the board was showing a delay of 1 hour so we stretched ourselves out as long as possible before finally caving in and buying the biggest English breakfast we could find.

At 1.15pm we finally boarded our plane ready for take-off but no, there were to be more delays.  Seated on the left side of the plane I watched out of the window as more and more people in fluorescent yellow jackets began pointing to the rear left of the plane and taking photographs.  Oh how I wished I had wing mirrors to see what they were looking at!  Then came the announcement “ladies and gentlemen, apologies for the delay but it seems we have some maintenance issues which need tending to before we can be cleared for take-off”.  Great, that doesn’t make me nervous at all!!

Next a set of stairs is driven up to the side of the plane and the officials all begin pointing to the side of the stairs and then to the side of the plane and one official pulls a flappy bit of metal from the side of the steps and again points to the side of the plane before boarding the plane to speak to the captain.  Cue next announcement “ladies and gentlemen, it would appear that the steps were accidentally driven into the side of the plane and have caused a rather large scratch.  We need to get the Head of Safety out to look at the plane and decide whether we can take-off or not”.

We sat on the tarmac for a further 40 minutes or so as men in yellow jackets continued to stand around watching the activities at the rear of the plane.  I think they were probably sticking a huge elastoplast on the scratch but I couldn’t be sure.  Eventually, some two hours after we were supposed to take-off we took to the skies as our trip to the South of France began.  We watched out of the windows as snowy England disappeared below us, we crossed the Channel and began our flight over, wait for it, snowy France!  Oh come on!!!

The flight was actually pretty good apart from the last 10 minutes which were a bit bumpy, needless to say Hubby was quite green by the time we touched down.  We passed through the airport with ease and were greeted by our lovely drivers who were going to transport us to St Tropez a little later than anticipated.

BUT the troublesome journey was not to end there, oh no!  A four lane motorway suddenly turned into a 3 lane, then a 2 lane and then a 1 lane motorway until we were pretty much at a standstill with still a further 45 minute journey to complete.  It turns out snow was expected so the authorities grounded all lorries and stacked them up at the side of the road, two lorries deep and from what we could count there were approximately 500 lorries (yes we were going that slow).

At around 9pm we arrived at the quayside in St Tropez (and yes I did drool over the beautiful yachts) to settle down to an evening meal at Le Cafe de Paris which was beautiful.  We were greeted by 10 members of the crew who would be spending the weekend filming us, name after name was introduced to me but it was no good,  by that time my brain was mush.  I would have to try again in the morning.

After an entertaining evening with some great company and good food we checked ourselves into our fab hotel The Kube and crashed for the evening ready to start all over again the next day . . .

From the moment you begin your journey into parenthood a whole new world of shopping opens its doors to you, it’s so hard to not go out and buy everything that you see.  Everything is so cute, or is the most amazing colours and designs.  Don’t even get me started on the clothes!  But . . . → Read More: Flexibath Giveaway]]>

From the moment you begin your journey into parenthood a whole new world of shopping opens its doors to you, it’s so hard to not go out and buy everything that you see.  Everything is so cute, or is the most amazing colours and designs.  Don’t even get me started on the clothes!  But there was one product that I ALWAYS wanted for Little Bean and Beanie Boy that I never got around to buying and sadly now it is too late for them.  The Flexibath is a genius idea for a baby bath tub as far as I am concerned.  Babies NEED to be bathed, but they certainly don’t need to be bathed in the full size family bath, that would be like an adult taking a bath at the swimming pool all by themselves.  Just think of all that wasted water, let alone the overwhelming space around you.

The only problem with baby baths is they take up so much flipping space!  With Little Bean and Beanie Boy their bath resided on top of their wardrobe, not exactly a pretty sight but it saved us tripping over it all the time.  Obviously someone else thought that baby baths were causing space issues so they came up with the Flexibath, a folding baby bath!!

Whitestep think that Flexibath is a fab product too and are going to give one of my lucky readers their very own Flexibath.  Whitestep is a great website who have taken on the mission to provide parents with the latest, most innovative products for babies up to 3 years old.  They trawl the world’s marketplace so that you don’t have to.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I only met my sister less than 3 years ago, until that time we didn’t know . . . → Read More: 052/366 – Happy Birthday Sis!]]> Ok I admit it, I’m rubbish!  Half way through the afternoon I realised that today was my sister’s birthday and this is appalling when you consider that she was only in my house less than 48 hours ago.

I only met my sister less than 3 years ago, until that time we didn’t know that each other existed.  The details aren’t important, they are private but what is important is that after growing up an only child, I now have a lovely sister and two gorgeous brothers (oh come on, they’re related to me   ).  The boys live out in Australia so I don’t get to see them very often but thankfully my sister still lives in the UK with her lovely fella and her two scrummy children, my niece and nephew.  We all get on really well (most of the time), we still have the odd adjustment issues now and then but that’s to be expected.  Her fella and my Hubby share the same birthday and are waaaaay to similar, especially when it comes to telling stories and they have a proper bromance going on but it feels like we have known them forever.

Even shopping trips are funny as we often turn up with similar items of clothing, although mine are a few sizes larger than hers but it’s good to have them in our lives and I’m sooooooooo cross with myself that I forgot her birthday.  Sorry Sis, I will make it up to you xx

Every now and then I get something to review which I absolutely love and this is one of those times.  I have mentioned previously that all our children love music and they all go to bed listening to it and so I am always happy for them to have something new to listen to.  . . . → Read More: The Land of Sometimes Review and Competition]]>

Every now and then I get something to review which I absolutely love and this is one of those times.  I have mentioned previously that all our children love music and they all go to bed listening to it and so I am always happy for them to have something new to listen to.  Last week The Land of Sometimes landed on my doormat and a whole new magical world has been opened up at bedtime.

WELCOME TO THE LAND OF SOMETIMES

Over the ocean, far away, there is a magical place called ‘The Land Of Sometimes’ where four seasons pass within one day, and everyone who lives there has a song…

Join Elise and Alfie, be daring enough to make a wish, and explore the magical ‘Land Of Sometimes’.

The Land of Sometimes is an audio storybook for children aged 2-99 which was released on CD on 6th February.  As the story unfolds you are introduced to the characters by way of their own unique songs from Little Twink to The Frosty Fish, River Slouch Sling and more besides.  The eccentric characters join you on the magical journey which is universally appealing.  All genres of music are covered from reggae to disco, Irish folk, poetry and New Orleans jazz.

The Land of Sometimes is a perfect tool to open up your child’s imagination and make a refreshing change from the usual nursery rhymes.  This is a CD which we can enjoy together in the car to make a long journey more relaxing or snuggled up at bedtime, my personal favourites are Dare Make a Wish and What Colour are YOUR days?   Little Bean has been listening to it for less than a week and she is already singing along to many of the songs and talks of Elise and Alfie randomly throughout the day.

When the CD has finished the magic doesn’t have to end there, on the website there are images of all the characters, downloadable activities and a map of the Land of Sometimes to really bring the tale to life.  If you want to purchase a copy of the CD yourself you can do that from the website too, I guarantee you will not regret your purchase!

Competition Time!!!

I like to look after my readers so now I have the opportunity for one of my readers to receive their very own copy of The Land of Sometimes and the competition could not be more simple.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can also follow them on Twitter @landofsometimes and like them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/thelandofsometimes

I think most parents would agree that by the end of any school holidays, you begin to tear your hair out.  It all starts of quite exciting, the thought of spending extra time with your children.  You plan days out, trips to the park, play dates with friends, visiting family, perhaps even a few . . . → Read More: Warner Bros saves half-term blues]]>

I think most parents would agree that by the end of any school holidays, you begin to tear your hair out.  It all starts of quite exciting, the thought of spending extra time with your children.  You plan days out, trips to the park, play dates with friends, visiting family, perhaps even a few days away and then bang, the good old British weather puts the mockers on it!

I try very hard to not park my children in front of the TV but as the witching hour approaches late in the afternoon I find it is the only way to save my sanity and so the DVD’s come out.  Luckily for us, Warner Bros came to our rescue with this Half Term Survival Pack which the children LOVED!  Would you believe that Little Bean had never actually seen any of the Looney Tunes cartoons?  Little Bean’s favourite character so far is Taz, she just laughs and laughs when she sees him.  Personally I’m still a big fan of Tom n Jerry and Roadrunner, I just love them.

Curly got stuck in with Scooby Doo and was surprised that there were still some Scooby Doo DVD’s that he hadn’t actually seen.  He is and always has been a major Scooby Doo fan, I think he may be turning into Shaggy judging by the amount of food he consumes at the moment.

Do you ever have those days where you just wish you hadn’t got out of bed?  I do and today was one of them for the most part.  My sister has been staying with us for a few days now and today our 5 children seem to be grating on each other and us . . . → Read More: 049/366 – D for Disaster]]>

Do you ever have those days where you just wish you hadn’t got out of bed?  I do and today was one of them for the most part.  My sister has been staying with us for a few days now and today our 5 children seem to be grating on each other and us too.  It’s going to happen, you can’t expect them to get along all of the time without the odd little spat.  Little Bean is doing her best to share her things but sometimes it’s too much for her and she gets a bit shouty or even worse, she screams her loudest, most ear-piercing scream and it drives everyone bonkers.

Today we had planned to take everyone over to Stamford for a spot of lunch, a little look around the shops for the grown-ups and then a trip down the A1 to Peterborough to wear the children out at Ferry Meadows.  Alas, when we arrived at toddled our way over to Stamford the first car park was full, so then we trundled our way to the next one, getting out of our cars just as the heavens opened and a downpour began.  We decided that 4 wet slightly fed up adults and 5 wet and hungry children was not the best recipe for a fun day so we piled everyone back into the car to make a pit stop at Costa to grab some takeaway coffees and head to The Granary in Peterborough for lunch, at least that way if the sun came out we would be close to Ferry Meadows to continue with the rest of our plans.

When we arrived at The Granary I was told there was an hour’s wait for the restaurant but if we were happy to sit in the bar we could move tables to accommodate ourselves in there.  The rain was still persisting when we arrived and the children just wanted to get inside so we took the remainder of our Costa coffees with us to finish whilst we placed our orders.

Once we got seated we became aware of a woman giving rather evil glares to our party and having a heated discussion with her husband who appeared to be trying to calm her down.  Before we knew it she had called over the manager and began pointing her finger in our direction.  The manager walked away and she continued to give evil glares.  People who know me will know that I don’t back down from people like this and so I calmly walked over and asked her if there was a problem.  She slammed the remainder of her drink down, grabbed her coat and said “not now there isn’t, you’ve already ruined my day” and promptly stormed off.  So I turned to her husband and asked “what have we done, is it the children?” to which he replied “no don’t worry about it, it’s fine” and then he ran after her.

I then spoke to the manager myself and asked if there was a problem with our party being there.  It turns out she was a local to the pub and had taken offence that we had come in carrying Costa coffee cups.  The manager pointed out that actually they do sell takeaway Costa coffee so this wasn’t a problem and we were there to eat a meal and had ordered drinks for everyone too so there was no problem.

What is it with people sticking their noses in?  I never sit down in a restaurant and go, “you know what I don’t like the way she’s holding her fork, it offends me”.  To be honest I don’t really pay other people much attention at all so I don’t understand why grumpy people like her have to stick their nose in.  We weren’t causing anyone any harm, we spent A LOT of money in her local but she ruined our experience there.

As for the rest of our day?  The rain continued so we took the gang to Garden Park to look around the shops and spoil ourselves in Van Hage with yummy cakes and hot chocolate!  At least we managed to pull a bit of goodness out of an otherwise pants day!  And then there was curry!!!!